New Universe
by Caustic Effect
Summary: Daniel moved from America and finds his new home a let down. When he is pushed away from the Society by odd circumstances what will be the result?  New chapters being added.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! I am starting on this and four other fanfics while also keeping up Red Moon. I don't know how often I will update, but I know that I will! I'm keeping my eye out for Reviews, and respond to most, so feel free to complain or compliment!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story or characters made by the author, but I do own my OC's and the plotline, as such this disclaimer will only be posted at the start, but applies to every chapter here after!**

Ch.1 – A new Beginning

"Come, Daniel. It isn't as bad as you are making it!" Dad shouted from the door, waving me in.

Sighing, I only looked around as he went back in, probably to set up his computer. _Hescombe,_ I thought ruefully. It was a small little town that was nowhere near the claustrophobic mess of a city we had left, but I yearned to hear something other than the sounds of nature, as I had lived with high traffic all my life.

I gazed at the house we had moved to, but as much as I wanted to I couldn't complain. It was two stories high and had an attic on top of that. The sides were well maintained and painted a sterile white. A rusted three was nailed next to the door and a mailbox hung next to that. The windows were clean and reflected the late light, making me squint. To the left and right were houses of similar size and shape, another even further to the right. At the end of the street I could see that the last one was cramped looking, a beach right after it.

I had never lived near a beach – heck, I had only been to a beach once in my life! - but I could tell that I would already love it. A cool breeze came in, cooling the hot summer day and lifting my spirits with it. I could hear the seagulls and other animals and longed to go and lay on the sand. Who knows? Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

I hauled my duffel and rolling suitcase into the house, all of my possessions contained within. The stairs were to the right, the rest of the floor containing a dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. The house looked exactly as I had envisioned it from the online tour. Up the stairs there were three bedrooms and an office room, from which I could hear Dad clattering around as he set up his computer.

I took the room farthest from the office and walked in. The walls were dark green, sponge painted on. The large furniture had already been placed inside by the movers. I walked to the window and looked out. The cliff behind the house was spectacular, trees and shrubs dotting the top. I felt an immediate urge to climb to the top and gaze at the sea, but resisted as I began unpacking.

Clothing and small nicknacks were placed in the small dresser. Blanket spread across the bed. Last but not least, I placed my few treasures upon the shelves, enjoying how the light caught them. I rubbed a finger against the small statuettes and let my mind wander across them, reveling in the fragile forms that were my collection.

Mythical creatures that were the capture of human imagination filled the shelf. I had a dragon, a pegasus, and a naga. Grinning at my collection, I though back to my mom's words. _For behind every great thought, there is an inspiration!_ A tear slid down my face, but I remained happy, the statues in front of me being the only reminder of her. It had been years since she left, claiming that the trees called to her. I turned from the small figures after a moment and walked out of the house, down to the beach.

The sand sparkled with reflective pebbles and pools of water. I looked in either direction and saw that the sand was clear. Must be a private beach or something. The sun was still high in the sky, though it had started to fall an hour ago. Waves reflected the light and carried the warmth away with them.

Sitting, I ran my hands through the sand and watched as a few gulls descended and started pecking around. They seemed completely ignorant of me. Except for one, that is.

It was small and landed next to me, seeming uncaring that I was even here. It squawked and picked up a shell in its beak, dropping it a second later on top of my hand. I smiled and picked up the shell myself. New city, new collection, right?

The bird fluttered away after awhile and I watched as the sun marched across the sky. A cat, appearing from nowhere, slid up to me and climbed into my lap. I pet its head and watched as clouds scuttled by, unhindered by the weight imposed by gravity.

There was a bang as a house door opened. I leaned my head back and watched – upside down – as two people, one carrying a small child, walked out of number five. They headed to the beach themselves and seemed completely ignorant of me. That was as I liked it though.

I was a shadow, a behind the scenes type person, and enjoyed that role immensely. People often overlooked me, even if I was in plain sight. One time, a woman had even sat at the same table as me, then scared herself silly when she noticed me. I was the one that was able to fade from focus just by being me.

Unfortunately, I was noticed. Unfortunately, it was because the man stepped on me. And unfortunately, they stopped to talk.

"Hello there!" The man said, beaming at me as if I was handing him some great artifact or a wrapped present. "I see you found the cat."

I looked down at the small thing, realizing that it was the only thing that had made them stop. If it had not been near me, the man would probably have only glanced at me after stepping on me. I sat up again and smiled up, knowing well that if I was polite and made some sort of small talk they would most likely go away, leaving me to the sun and sand.

"Hello."

"My name is Mack, and this is my wife Evelyn," she raised a hand in greating, her black hair swaying and mouth unsmiling. "and my son George. He's one now."

"That's great." I said, filling my voice with a happy tone, yet wishing they would leave me be.

"I've never seen you here before. Tourist?" Evelyn asked, her tone serious and condemning, as if I had interrupted something that had been planned. So this was the reason they were talking to me, they wanted me to leave.

"Nope. I just moved in to number three." I knew that even if they wanted me to leave, I had as much right as them... Unless they owned this part of the beach? Then I would be out of luck.

"Oh," she looked genuinely surprised, but covered it quickly. "Well then, welcome to Shaker Row."


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2 Eye to Eye

I stared at the mirror as I washed my hands. My skin had the slight tan of someone who went outside yet didn't try for it. My face was freckled along the sides of my nose. My brown hair was short. My eyes were a brown so dark that they looked black.

The beach had gone from bad to worse. After introductions I had been lead back to number 5 and introduced to Evelyn's niece, Connie. Her black hair had shrouded her face at first, but when she looked up I was surprised to see one brown eye and one green.

The whole time that I had been there – having been invited to dinner, which was slightly burnt but much better than the nothing I would usually eat – she had stared at me. I kept getting unnerved, as it was the first time in a long time that anyone had payed any kind of attention to me.

Evelyn and Mack had both let me fade in and out of their attention. The conversation had been interesting, as they had kept almost saying something. My guess is that it was a secret, because they would barely save themselves from letting it out. If Connie hadn't been there, I would have heard because half of the mentions had been cut off by her.

I growled low as I thought more about how she hadn't taken her attention off of me once. I had found a great many things out. For instance, Connie and her little cousin were not the only two that had mismatched eyes. It seemed that a boy named Col also had them. Each one was involved in some 'Society' that was accidentally mentioned a few times. There had been many interesting ecological things going on in the past five years. And that when I went to school I would be in the same grade as Connie, Col, and someone named Rat.

The rest of the information was packed into the back of my head, but at the fore-front were the eyes. Three people in town had them, and two were my age. I glanced again at the mirror, then down, then up again.

This time I gazed into my own eyes, the single color contact I wore resting on the counter. Now my left remained the almost black, but the right was a light gray. I looked at my eyes and thought back to all the names and pranks and pain that had come to me as a result of them. I thought to how my own father sometimes slipped when I had the contact out and called me 'Dual'.

It wasn't a very bad nickname, but the story behind it was. I cringed every time he called me that.

Here, though, I would be able to fit in with my mismatched eyes, mixed with the others that had them. No one would even notice - at least I hoped they wouldn't – and I would fit in and be overlooked like before, but without the painful contact.

I walked from the bathroom and out of the house, Dad already having planted himself in front of his computer. The sun shone down and I smiled as its warmth hit me. I could feel the pressure that comes before a storm bu decided not to worry, as it should be tomorrow that it rained.

I again walked to the beach, but this time thought better of staying near number 5. I refused to let them invite me again, as Connie would get to stare at me again and this time would see my eyes. I walked along the cliff and watched as the tide fell even further back then it had before. I looked at the waves that came in and pulled even more of the water away. Seagulls littered the area and were pecking at the remains of high tide, filling themselves up.

I carefully wandered along, wondering if Dad would notice that we had no food before or after the first week of being here. I swear, if he was even a drop more involved in his work he would starve in front of that screen. Don't get me wrong, I love him and never bother him about stuff, but sometimes he is scatter brained.

Ahead I could see a notch in the cliff that caught my attention. Red stone surrounded the entrance and I could hear the dripping of water inside. A smile came to my face. This must be the haunted cave of Hescombe!

Slipping inside, I saw the many tide pools that covered the ground. There were starfish and anenemies crowded inside, but this is not what captured my attention. High ledges surrounded the inside of the cave, looking sturdy enough to allow me to lay on them. I quickly climbed the wall and lay flat on the shelf, my arm dangling over the side.

It was surprisingly comfortable and I felt myself drifting into sleep. It had not come last night, as this was a new place and I had been thinking about many things, and I slowly slipped off.

…

I startled awake by the sound of something hitting the ground and what sounded like a sigh. There was no light and I realized that I had slept the day away inside a cave. I glanced over the edge and saw that the tide was in, filling the cave and blocking my exit. The water splashed in and out, yet seemed to take form around something. Sitting up, I realized I was trapped until the tide went down.

I sat up more and resigned myself to the wait, slinging my legs over the edge. The contacted with something that swayed back when I hit it and I felt a stabbing poke in the back of my knee.

"ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!" The cave shook with the bellow, quacking in the aftermath. Hands reached up and grasped my legs, yanking me from the shelf and holding me up-side down. In front of me was a bull head attached to a man's body. I saw that golden hair covered the chest whilst the head was covered in dark brown. The horns, which I realized were what poked me, looked menacing as the minotaur shook its head.

My mind stopped. I was being held upside down by a minotaur in a cave down the beach from my house in the middle of the night. It made no sense! Minotaurs weren't real! Yet, right in front of me, was proof!

"What do you seek intruder!" The beast boomed, leaving my ears ringing. My mind felt funny – as if it were tingling – and hard pressed – as if I were doing the puzzles in the morning paper. - I groaned as the blood rushed to my head and started a pounding headache.

"That is no answer!" he yelled, "You are here to hurt the Universal, aren't you!" The accusation fell on me as I groaned again, water splashing up and getting in my nose.

"What is a Universal?" I asked, holding my throbbing temples. A shock ran through me suddenly as the minotaur left the cave and hauled me down the beach. I was swinging like a pendulum in his grasp and my hair kept submerging in the cold waves. I shivered and sneezed, already feeling miserable.

The grasp loosened as I fell on dry sand, thankful to finally be right side up and the headache going away. The minotaur leapt toward the house at the end of Shaker Row and I knew now was my golden opportunity. I rose to my feet as the beast went out of sight and ran home.

I quickly rushed to my room, quietly shutting the door as to not disturb my father, and sat on my bed shivering. Shadows played across the wall and danced into my mind. Mythological creature were real! Now I knew, the trees had truly stolen my mother.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I really like this story and I am going to be writing more in it. Big thanks to the two reviewers that have deigned to comment on my story! **

**Also, to those who don't know, a Naga is a half snake that has the upper body of a human, lower body of a snake. The entire body is covered in scales and it has no hair. It is seen as luke warm blooded (at least in my opinion) and can be counted in the group that is Sea Snakes.**

**If anyone wants to leave comments on Mythical creatures to involve in my story, please do. If you can remind me about the small facts about the story, such as which compass point is which group and what they are called I would appreciate it greatly as I have forgotten most after I returned the boom to the library!**

Ch.3 Dreams and Damned

I woke and shivered, my skin caressed by the cool morning breeze. My hair crackled with frost from being outside over night and my skin was cold to the touch. Grass around me was wet with the melted frost, small patches of it covering the area around me.

My house was about thirty feet away. The back yard was pretty well kept and I yawned.

My dream had been weird. I had gone to the beach and met a minotaur! It would have been cooler if I had met a naga, as the half snake half human creatures were my favorite myths. I grinned slightly as I realized that I had fallen asleep in my backyard after I had gotten back from the beach.

I unlocked the back door and smelt the delicious smells of bacon crisping and eggs frying. It seems Dad finally remembered that we needed food.

"Where have you been?" Dad questioned, not exactly curious, but trying to show interest in my life.

"I went to the beach and then met the neighbors two days ago. Yesterday I went to the beach again and then slept in the back yard."

"That's great. Finally showing an interest in the great outdoors?"

I grabbed a plate and got my own breakfast, knowing that it was a rhetorical question. Dad was already tapping away at his laptop.

I poured ketchup on top of the eggs and crunched through the tofu bacon as the eggs steeped in the tomato product. I was glad that dad remembered to get the vegetarian stuff this time. One time he had gotten – then served me – the stuff made from meat. I had refused to talk to him for a week.

The day moved forward as the others did, seeing me at the beach. There were a few others there this time. Some were obviously tourists, but I could see Connie in a group that consisted of her, Evelyn, George, a boy her age, and a younger boy.

They seemed to be fussing over something in the sand, but the wall of bodies blocked my view. I sat on the sand, as close as I dared, and listened to the small bits thrown to me.

"The... lemon... on..." Connie said, though the 'lemon' sounded as if it were part of a larger word.

"I can't..." Stated the younger boy, his voice loud compared to what Connie had said. Evelyn wrapped an arm around the kid and Connie glanced around, noticing that the small kid had probably been overheard.

I stared out at the water – making it look as though I had not been listening in – but I could feel her eyes gazing in my direction, narrowed and boring a hole into the left side of my face. Eventually the gaze slid away and I looked back.

The small boy had pulled a lighter out of his pocket and was lighting what looked like a wick on fire before Connie waved it out. She picked up whatever it was that they were gathered around and walked down the beach, hidden inside the human huddle.

I guess that the excitement for today was over. I may listen in and watch things when people overlook my presence but I was no spy. Near noon I left the beach, deciding to go into town and look at what the stores and such offered.

The old buildings rose to either side as I walked down the main street. There was a baker and a few small cafes, one seeming like an old teahouse. I noted the teahouse in my mind and walked on, eagerly taking in the stone facades that fronted all the houses near the center.

I eventually made my way out of town and looked across the scene in front of me. To my right was a forest with a light road stretching through. The left was filled with farmlands that seemed to end in a moor. I chose to head to the forest.

The wind picked up as I entered, rustling the trees. I sighed deeply and smiled. Nature was my kind of place.

Small animals skitted around the area and through the branches above me. Birds chirped and whistled while I walked, seeming to encourage me on. The trees rustled constantly, giving a nice sound to the late summer day.

I left the road eventually and walked on, finding areas that seemed to be traversed often by humans, as the paths held shoe prints. The bushes snagged at my clothes and seemed to pull me back, intent on not letting me through. I pushed on – heedless – and found myself near a ravine.

It started a little to the left but went on far and deep to the right. Now this was the place! There could be tons of lost stuff down here. Old pieces of treasure that had been lost long ago. Animals that had never been seen before!

Okay, I have to admit I'm getting a little ahead of myself there. What could possibly be that unknown in Hescombe?

I walked down the small crack in the earth and marveled at the surfaces surrounding me. Vines latticed their way up the heightening rock faces and small dwarf trees grew from the inhospitable rock. One in particula reminded me of a full sized tree, even the leaves being small.

I walked further and came into a canyon type area. Rocks littered the ground around me and the sky openened above, fringed by trees. I gasped at the wonder of it all. In the distance I could hear the normal forest sounds, but here it was as if the world was holding it's breath.

I walked further and my wonderment grew. There were caves in the rock face that seemed to moan and ones that seemed to whistle, while others were completely silent.

I was about to enter one of the caves and see if I could find some of the treasure I had come in search of when I had come down here when a hand on my shoulder spun me around. A woman with long golden hair and an angelic face confronted me with a frown and a glare.

"What are you doing here? Are you from the Sociey?" She seemed panicked and had a tinge of hope in her voice, as if I was the answer to her prayer.

"I'm sorry, what Society?" Her eyes narrowed and took me in.

"You looked the type, but get out." Venom now laced her words as she shoved me all the way to the entrance of the canyon area glaring daggers at me the whole time.

"Why can't I meet someone normal for once?" I mumbled to myself after she had stalked away.

I wasn't going to leave without my treasure, though.

**Also, as a treat to Angelmail - who reviewed both of my previous chapters and will most likely be reading this – I have written at least two chapters that will be going up right now, at the same time! Ch 5 is also being written as I speak... To myself... Because I don't have a great companion to talk to...**


	4. Chapter 4

Ch.4 Sand and Stone

I snuck back towards the nearest cave and peered in, hoping that the crazy woman wasn't hidden out inside of it. Ducking in, I was relieved to see it was clear of inhabitants, human or otherwise.

The dark was piercing me and the air was much chillier than what it was outside. Water dripped from the ceiling and splashed in puddles around the floor. My breath misted in front of me.

Colors blasted out at me, deep rusted reds and bright oranges. Whit mixed with drown patched the walls and clear stones littered the floor. Quartz of all colors protruded from the walls and danced the light from the entrance deeper, relieving the gloom slightly.

I watched as the rocks caught and threw the light, allowing the deepest holes to have a glimmer of hope. Walking past these seemingly bottomless holes was frightening, as I had no idea what would happen if I fell.

Below I could hear rushing water and the clatter of falling stones. I tuned these sounds out and walked deeper, around the first bend.

Ahead was dark. Pitch dark that held no trace of light. I stepped back and a ray of light fell past me, reflected from one of the stones behind. There, in the light, was what I had been looking for. Or at least close enough.

A perfect sphere of quartz glittered in the light and I rushed to pick it up. Purples and blues mixed evenly with the greens. A silver streak shot through the outside and seemed to dance across the surface in swirling patterns. It was perfect.

The walk home was quick as I ran my hands over the smooth sphere, finding no flaw to its form. I walked past people that were only shadows in my eyes, as everything else seemed to fade but the thought of sitting on the beach in the early afternoon, sand filling my grasp and warming in the sun.

Finally! I had made it to the beach to find it devoid of human life. I slipped down the way and stood in a small cove of sand that went into the cliff. The sun beat down on me and the stone. I lay and closed my eyes, letting the sound of the waves and the heat of the sun lull me.

A crackle went through me and I felt as if I was the sand. Waves washed over me relentlessly and pulled bits away before leaving me with new ones. Pressure from countless tons of water over me crushed me into rock which in turn was worn back to sand by the relentless waves. There were spaces of time without water, the sun baking down and warming me in the sea of sand. It seemed as if my mind was cleared by the wind, then blown together again.

_Hello, listener of the earth!_ The voice startled me and I sat up quickly. There was no one around me and no one to have said the words that I had heard.

_Of course there are no other people here! We are alone!_

_Who are you?_ I thought, finally realizing that the voice was in my head.

_I am called Shift!_ Came the gleeful reply. Sand poured over my leg and then solidified, raising up out of the area around me. In front of me now – and resting on my legs – was a snake made of sand. Its scales looked soft but I felt that they were hard as stone and smooth as glass.

_What are you?_

_I am a Sandling! Or a Sand Construst, Sand Golem, Sand Sprite, Or-my favorite-Sand Elemental!_

_An Elemental? You mean like in the myths!_

_Why, yes. And I thank you for saving me from the cave, Companion._

I now noticed that Shift's eyes were made from the now large marble sized hemispheres of what had been the sphere in the cave. The silver now formed pupils and held a deep intelligence that seemed to shine through. I felt his mind pressing against mine and opened to it.

Again I felt the sand, but this time I felt the years that churned it from magma to stone to sand. The countless years of weathering that seemed like the blink of an eye. At the surface was loose grains, shifting thoughts, and sun heated joy of life. Deeper I could feel the more solid layers that seemed to encompass a greater knowledge, a greater feeling. It felt like crumbling stone that solidified and loosened with the passing whims of thought.

Blinking, I raised my head from the whirlwind below.

_Now you know me better and I know you better!_ Came Shift's cheerful mental voice that reminded me of sand pouring out and rocks clacking together. _But it is strange that we are so very similar, is it not?_

_I think it's great!_ I smiled, running my hands across the smooth yet rough surface of Shift.

_Someone is coming!_

Before I could reply Shift had shrunk and lunged at my neck. I heard clinking and crackling. I felt a stone necklace loop around, and when I looked down the stone I had found in the cave was held in the grasp of a claw like thing in a sand colored, stone bead necklace.

Walking down the beach, from the direction of the cave I had found, was the group from earlier. They seemed much more cheerful then before and the boy mine and Connie's age was whistling. I watched carefully as they passed, noting how they didn't note me.

Just the way I liked.

_Why do you like being unnoticed?_ Shift's voice made me jump.

_I like not being made fun of for my eyes and my family. Almost everyone in my old city knew that I had two different colored eyes, a crazy Mom, and a forgetful Dad. Now I know that I caught Mom's craziness though._

_What do you mean?_

_She said the trees called her and she ran away to live with them. Now I'm speaking to sand. The thing is, though, I like it and hope it doesn't end._

_So you think I'm not real?_ Shift asked, sounding hurt. I cringed as I realized what had happened.

_I think you are the realest thing ever! _ I assured quickly, trying to get the happy Shift back. _It's just that nobody else will believe me._

_That's great, Companion!_ I smiled, who knew it was so easy to make others happy?

_Pleas, call me Daniel, that's my name._

_Okay Com-Daniel!_ Shift said, slipping on his first try.

I smiled again and watched as the sun set. Time sure flies when you are delving into the minds of others! I stood and walked home, stroking a hand over Shift's eye marble and hearing a mental purr in response.

I may be going crazy, but at least I had someone to talk to when school started next week.


	5. Chapter 5

**Big shout out to Frozen Smoke for the review!**

Ch.5 Fanfares and Fluff

The week was going by too fast and I could feel the overwhelming anxiety of school starting on Monday. I had gotten the uniform and supplies over the last few days and it left me drained. It was now Thursday, and I wanted to enjoy the last four days of the summer. It felt as though the future was looming and I hadn't had a chance to talk to Shift because every time I did I lost focus on what I was doing, resulting in several bad situations.

I wanted a day away from the stress I had been throwing on myself and the chance to talk to Shift more so I decided that The Copper Kettle would be the perfect place. It was an old tea shop, as I had noticed several long days ago. The inside had a fancy feel to it and I instantly liked that most of the occupants were older, any therefore less likely to approach me.

I walked to the counter and ordered some sort of tea that had orange in it and grabbed a few light fluffy pastries. Walking back to a table with my order I sat and finally relaxed. I enjoyed the flavor of the tea, as I had assumed I would when I found there was orange in it, and sank into the chair.

I peeled layers from my pastry and let the thin sheets dissolve on my tongue.

_You awake, Shift?_

_Hmm... Oh, yeah. I was just meditating._

_I still say it's sleeping._ I smirked.

_But I am aware!_

_And out of it._ I counter argued, my smile growing wider. No harm in our playful arguing.

_Agree to disagree?_

_Of course! Now, I've been meaning to ask. How did you end up in that cave?_

The vision of sand in my mind that was Shift seemed to ripple with heat in a hot desert. _I was left by my old companion. He was in the Society and was ordered to leave me where I could not form a body. Where there was no sand._ Anger rippled in the words and lashed back and forth like whips.

I cringed and noted that a few people were watching me. I simply sipped my tea and waited for them to lose interest. _So you don't like this Society, eh?_

_I am fine with the Society._ I heard a sigh. _It is the fact that my Companion listened when he was told to leave me in the cave._

_I won't ever do anything like that. I think I'd die if I left you. I have only known you for less than a week, but it is great to talk to you, when I can._

_I am glad._

The door opened and my day suddenly went down the drain. Connie and the boy our age walked in, holding hands. The took no notice of others in the cafe, only having eyes for each other. They sat at the table next to me without taking notice. Whispers flew between them and they leaned together conspiratorially.

_Why don't you like them? _Asked the ever observant Shift.

_It's not that I don't like them. In fact, I don't even know the boy. Connie just doesn't stop staring. When Evelyn invited me to dinner at number five she kept her attention on me the whole time. She stared and stopped them when they started to talk about the Society. What is the Society?_

_Hmm... So her attention doesn't slip away like everyone else? The Society for the Protection of Magical Creatures. As far as I know, they started one hundred years before I was left in the cave. They were founded by a universal and one of each of the four main groups. The flyers, two-fours, elementals, and sea snakes._

_So you're an elemental?_

_Actually, no. I also fall into that category but I am a little of everything except two-fours. In my full form I am a sand snake with wings and can fly. Mostly sand elementals fly in the deserts and are passed off as mirages. Attention slides from us and our companions except by our selves. We are able to tunnel into sand and draw it to and from our bodies._

_So you are in all three categories?_

_Yes! Let's put it like this. I am one part naga, one part pegasus, and one part sand golem._

_I thought you said you were a sand golem?_

_I said I was **called** a sand golem. It is a common misconception. The golems are bulky and like to live near sandstone, which is what they are made from. Truthfully, you are a companion to all three of those plus me!_

_So that's unusual?_

_Yes! In my memory on universals could bridge the gap between the groups. In fact, that girl has the feel of a universal. You should tell her that her aunt is looking for her *yawn* I'm going back to sleep._

_I thought it was meditation._

Shift was already gone though and I had the wonderful duty of telling a universal her aunt was looking for her.

My tea was gone, as well as the pastry. I stood and walked the two steps to their table. Great, they were kissing and holding hands at the same time. I could hear the tongue slurping and everything. I tapped her on the shoulder and got a strong electric shock for my troubles. I placed my finger into my mouth and compared it to the time that I had been zapped by an electrical outlet. Hand numb and arm not far behind.

"Oh great, it's the stalker from two doors down." She said, voice condescending and aimed to hurt. It did hurt, but I wouldn't let her know that.

"If you haven't noticed, I was in all of the places first except once." I wondered if her attention really had slipped from me like everyone else's had. She wasn't the all knowing one and her attention the first night was probably to keep her attention from slipping!

"Oh, really," she said, arching an eyebrow, "And is this the one place?"

"Nope, the beach was. This time I was sitting at the table right behind me, in perfect view of your make out session." I gestured to the table behind me, which still held my empty cup and plate.

Connie spluttered and blushed heavily, unable to form words. Thankfully her make out partner came to her rescue.

"Hi, I'm Col." He held his hand out to me and I shook it. His eyes were the same mismatch as Connie's. I finally had a face to put to the name. "Huh, Connie didn't tell me that you had mismatched eyes too, she just said that you were... uh... unnoticeable." Now it was his turn to blush.

"Wait!" Connie stared at my eyes too and finally took them in. "Why didn't I notice that before?"

"Well, I am happy to remain unnoticed." I was fine with her confused by how she hadn't seen it before. "Your aunt asked me to send you home if I saw you today, urgent Society business."

"Darn, I wonder what's wrong now. Sorry Col, gotta go." She left in a rush, which left me in the perfect spot to get all the best information about the society from Col.

"Well, that was quick. You wanna come meet Gran?"

Oh, yes. I did.

**How am I doing? Like my companion species? Any comments what-so-ever?**

**Also, I own Daniel, Sand Elementals and this plot. Everything else is Rodda's!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Big thanks to all of the helpful reviews and such, sorry I didn't reply to them right away but my internet decided that it hated and stopped me from going to the site.**

**This chapter would also have been up sooner if it weren't for the internet hating me and my favorite thing to do.**

Ch.6 Sounds of Secrets

Col's grandmother's house was a nice place, but what astounded me was the garden.

Pools of water were shaded under large trees and flowers seemed to carpet the ground. Col had told me how he had lived with his grandmother since he was little, due to the fact that both of his parents were heavily involved in the society. Obviously Connie hadn't told him that I was in it yet.

Mags had been very nice, rubbing his snout against me. Truthfully I had never been near a horse before. It made me wonder what flying on a pegasus was like. Shift had told me that I was companion to pegasi plus the others. Col had been very forthcoming about his spot on some sort of competitive team that was made of pegasi companions.

The back door opened as we approached and out stepped who I could only guess was Col's gran. She was wide and had a smile on her face as she bustled out.

"Hi, Gran!" Col said, waving to get her attention. "This is Daniel, he's new in town. Daniel, this is my Gran, Lavinia, companion to water sprites."

Lavinia's eyes widened then narrowed as he said that. "Col!" she admonished, "Why would you tell an outsider that!"

Oops. Busted.

Col's mouth dropped open and he looked back and forth between me and Lavinia. "But... Aren't you a member."

"Nope." I grinned.

_And you almost got away with it too! _ Shift relayed to me.

_If it wasn't for those meddling kids!_

_Huh?_

_Sorry, cartoon reference._

"Oh... This is bad." Col stated.

"Yep, thanks for that captain obvious!" I called cheerfully as I backed toward the gate. I'd have to make a break for it if they tried any funny business.

"Wait!" Lavinia called, but it was too late, I was sprinting away from that garden as fast as I could. Who knows what a water sprite can do?

I slowed to a walk a block away and stayed calm as they raced up behind, then past me. It seems that since I had met Shift I was able to become even more unnoticed than I had before! And I was also able to become noticed when I wanted. It felt good.

I walked all the way back home and witnessed a large meeting of people outside of number 5.

_Think we can sneak up and listen to what they have to say?_ I asked Shift.

_Of course! I'll just make us blend in!_

I felt the feeling of hot sand around my neck and looked down to see that Shift had gone back to his snake form. He nodded to me, silver irises glinting, and I walked forward to hear every word.

"...He then escaped and seemed to vanish into thin air." Lavinia finished. "Dr. Brock, what do you suggest?" The old man in question stepped forward and looked around for a second, eyes sliding over me as if I weren't there.

"Connie, are you sure that he isn't a companion?"

"Yes, he didn't have the same energy as every one else, even though he has the eyes of someone with universal blood in their family."

So, had passed even the notice of a universal, who it seemed was able to read people's gifts.

"Okay then. Rat," He said, pointing to another boy my age who was only a few feet away. "We need you to get Icefen and find this boy, Daniel. Make sure that he doesn't remember."

"Again?" he moaned out. What did he mean, again? Then it hit me. The dream about the minotaur! It wasn't a dream, it was real, and these people were responsible for taking that memory away!

Anger bubbled up and the hot sand feeling ran through my mind. I seemed to ripple in heat, yet I did not feel hot or cold. The anger was the silent type that I had felt whenever I had been left out of things just because of my eyes!

Then it passed.

_Are you okay, companion Daniel?_

_Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just mad that they want to keep away from me because I'm different. You said that I was companion to four different creatures yet they want to take that away because their precious universal doesn't think I'm good enough._

_Don't worry, the universals don't know everything._

I smiled then opened my eyes. _Uh oh!_ All around me were people from the group, staring at me and the now larger Shift. I blushed and watched as Shift looked around, surprised at the predicament too. He was bigger now and I could see that fangs had formed in his mouth as well as wing nubs on his back.

"Uh, hi," I said shakily. "I'll just be going now!" I made a mad dash and got past three people before someone landed on my back, knocking me to the ground. My breath was forced out but the weight was relieved when Shift knocked my attacker – Rat – off of me. Unfortunately I had been surrounded in that small amount of time.

"Who are you?" demanded Dr. Brock.

"I'm Daniel. You know, the one you want to hunt down and make forget everything."

**Haha! Next chapter is out and I am having FUN! For all of you that think I'm writing super fast, take a look at Red Moon, my Pokémon fanfic. I wrote up to the collab in one week, which is near 40-50k words?**

**Also, big thanks to the reviews that gave me info on the compass!**


	7. Chapter 7

Ch.7 Blunders and Compass Points

"How do you have this creature with you?" Dr. Brock asked for the seventh time.

"I found him in a cave and he said I was his companion." I replied for the sixth, my first reply having been a crack at the universal.

"How do you have this creature with you?" Eight times.

This time I ignored him and looked to Shift, who was trapped by the universal across the room. I couldn't hear him or even feel him. I was already cracking from being unable to feel the warm sandy presence in my head.

"How do you have this creature with you?" Nine.

The room smelled of food from an early dinner they must have had. Small pieces of debris were placed around the room and added a kind of magpie feel to the area.

_It's like that time I went to the city dump and found a whole nest complex of the things. Arron chased them away so we could collect the treasure._

Only silence responded to my comment and the small smile that had formed on my face dropped. I felt close to breaking down without Shift's presence. I felt as if I was fading away and I tried to stop the few tears that slid down my face.

Dr. Brock seemed to have forgotten me and was humming as he worked on making some sort of drink. Connie stared at me intently and I felt as if she was looking at the chair I was sitting in instead of me. Dr. Brock handed her a cup and the second she diverted her attention it was as if I was alone. No one looked at me or paid me any mind.

I stood and pushed the chair in, but still no one looked. For treating me so harshly they were just going to let me do what I wanted? Shift was curled in a ball in the universal's lap and I went to pick him up. His scales were smooth against my hands and again I could feel his presence. Happiness flooded my mind, then coldness flooded my body.

I collapsed to the floor and was wrapped loosely around the unmoving Shift.

"Trying to escape?" came the calm voice of Connie. She held a spectral looking bow in her hands and had it pointed at me. She drew a silvery looking arrow from her back and notched it.

"Oh, my!" said Dr. Brock. "I completely overlooked him."

"Why are you all so horrible?" I yelled out, glad that my voice worked.

"Because you kidnapped that mythical creature and lied about being a companion. You snuck in and stole information that you shouldn't know! You are just like Kullervo!"

"I didn't do any of that!" Now tears really did start to pour out. "I hate your stupid Society!"

She seemed to falter at my last out burst. "But... You aren't a companion..." This time she didn't seem so sure.

"Of course I am!" I snorted out between sobs. "Shift told me so!"

"But I can't feel your energy..."

"So? Why does that matter?"

"I can feel the power of every one else that I have met that is a companion!"

"Then I'm different!" I yelled back, "You can't be right all the time!"

My sobs finally slowed and I sat up, my body regaining feeling as I felt the warm sun bathed desert fill my mind. Shift was back, and I could feel him! Connie had sunk into a chair. She seemed put out and Col quickly wrapped his arms around her to keep her upright.

Dr. Brock gazed at me and seemed to be thinking deeply. "Well, we can skip the assessment if you already have your companion creature. But you have to promise that you wont tell anyone outside of the Society if you want to join."

I snorted. "You're kidding, right? What makes you think that after all this," I waved my arm around the kitchen and indicated the ten people gathered in the small room. Tears began leaking from my eyes as my mind retraced the overly stressful day I had had. "I would want to join your horrible collection of kidnappers and mind fuckers!"

I stomped out of the kitchen and stormed home. As I entered Shift wrapped around my neck and comforted me. He was the only thing that had been good since we moved here.

My door was locked behind me seconds after I had entered my house and I finally sank down onto the bed. My mind was fractured by the intense emotions of the day, but there was one thing I knew that would help. I took out my cell and pushed speed dial 5.

On the second ring it was answered. "Hey, Daniel! What's new in Hescombe?"

"Hey Arron. It's horrible here. There is this creepy society that protects mythical creatures and they forced me into an interrogation because I am a companion to sand sprites."

"... Um, not drunk, are you?"

"No, Arron," I said, smiling at his usual comment when I told him stuff that didn't seem plausible.

"Then I believe you. You have never lied before. Anything I can do?"

"Could you look for my mom? I think she was telling the truth when she said the trees called her. Can you find her and try make her get in touch with me?"

"Sure, man. I'll start right now! See ya."

"Bye, Arron."

I listened as the phone clicked shut and a soft static filled my ear.

_So you will not accept the Society?_

_I don't know. Today was so stressful and they hurt me so much. Should I forgive them?_

_Eventually. They would be able to help a lot!_

_How?_

_Have you noticed that people overlook you a lot?_

_Yeah._

_That's because we are companions! You take my abilities a little bit just by being a companion to me! You are able to pass and seem like an insignificant heat ripple! You can handle temperature differences better and your mood can even effect sand around you!_

_Really?_

_Really!_

_Then maybe we should practice a couple of these. It wouldn't do to be caught by that Society before I'm ready._

**How is this? Did you like how their close link affected the situations?**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am so proud of this chapter! I need feed back on this chapter from EVERYONE! I want to know how it is!**

Ch.8 Tests and Timing

The first day of school and placement testing was out of the way. I had gone to the extent of my companion's abilities to avoid the three Society members in my grade. It seemed that at every turn one of them was looking for my, but all that I needed was a distraction to toke a pinch of their attention away.

Two girls, who were unknown to me, helped greatly in that. They would consistently approach the three members and ask them questions while I slipped away. One class was even taken up by Col and Connie sitting next to me and taking shifts watching me. Fortunately the bell had distracted them both for a second and I was away to break.

I reached the beach ten minutes after school was out and flopped on the sand. My body was drained from the repeated dodging and hiding. Aches ran up my sides and down my back. My lungs gasped for breath and I felt a chill that left my limbs cold to the touch.

_You won't be able to hide again for a while. _ Shift said, his normally enthusiastic voice subdued.

"I didn't think I would, but I think I'm ready to talk to them, as long as Col and Connie aren't there." I panted, the strain halting my ability to talk to Shift with thoughts. "I'll have to accidentally run into Rat."

_Shouldn't that have had a hint of sarcasm in it?_

"Too tired." I hauled myself up and stretched, almost falling again a another wave of weakness hit me. If I felt like this every time I faded away I never wanted to fade away again! I made my way back into town and snuck past the school, seeing Connie still in the yard with the girls who had unwittingly distracted her all day. I just had to hope that they would hold her attention even when I couldn't help it stay on them by not being there.

I reached the outskirts of town and sat at the base of a tree, catching my breath.

_You are out of shape!_

"Oh, ha. It's because I was avoiding the C's all day!" Despite myself I couldn't help chuckling. My sand sprite buddy was always so light hearted.

Luckily, I didn't have to get back up to find Rat. He walked right up to me.

"Well, if it isn't the shadow!" He exclaimed. I waved weakly at him, trying to motion him over.

"Sorry *gasp* about that *gasp* but I really didn't want to talk to anyone if Col or Connie were there." I gasped again and tried to regain my seemingly permanently gone breath.

"Why not? They're okay people."

I let out a half laugh an finally recovered my breath enough as not to gasp every other second. "That's funny. The girl who declared I was a companion to no creature and got me into this mess and her boyfriend who always sides with her. I will talk to the Society, but only if they aren't there!"

Rat pulled out a cell and tapped a quick message then rested it back in his pocket before sitting next to me.

"So, what's your companion? Connie said she couldn't tell from the way it was formed." Shift rose along my neck and formed into his wrist thick snake form.

"This is Shift," I said, pointing him out for the benefit of Rat. "He is a sand sprite. What's your companion?"

"Mine's a frost wolf. So we both in the elementals?"

"Actually, sand sprites are in everything except two fours!" I said with joy. "They are a combination of naga, pegasus, and sand golem. I'm all three."

"Ah! You're just like Connie's brother. He is companion to chimeras, so gets all the pieces."

"That's cool. What are frost wolves like?"

"They're magnificent! I'll let you meet Icefen after the meeting thing."

"Ah, Icefen, the memory eraser. I guess I have met him before?"

"Yep," Rat said cheerfully. "He had to do the job when the minotaur got found. It was hard to lure you out!"

A companionable silence fell over us that was only broken ten minutes later by the sound of a car coming up the road. The driver was Evelyn and she ushered us in before driving into the moor. Another ten minutes and we ended up at a large farm building.

"welcome to the Masterson's!" Rat called as he jumped out of the car, howling as he went.

A gust of cold air filled with snow swirled down and formed the wolf in the middle of the front yard. It was white and huge. Rat was dwarfed next to it and he waved me over. I complied and approached the beast before me, lifting a hand. I sniffed in then nudged forward into my hand. Rat laughed and jumped up, hauling me behind him as the wolf started to run through the trees.

It was amazing and I laughed as the wind gusted through my hair. We went all over the edge of the moor and I got to see first hand how Icefen erased the memories of those who saw him. Eventually we made our way back and were confronted by four people with disapproving faces.

The first was a woman who stood next to a large green dragon. Another woman stood next to a unicorn. A storm bird swooped down and landed on the shoulder of a Native American man who stood next to a Chinese guy and a hooded figure.

"Rat, we have been waiting." said the woman with the dragon. Rat just smirked and jumped down. I followed, imitating his behavior. If I couldn't remain unnoticed, then I'd blend in.

She sighed and rubbed a hand across her face. "At least you brought him back with you." she said, her voice condescending. I immediately disliked the way she talked down about me and disregarded Rat.

"His name's Daniel."

"What?" she responded, as if shocked that I had a name.

"Well, you should learn it if you're gonna talk ta him and ask him into the Society!"

"Who said anything about him joining the Society?"

Now it was Rat's turn to be shocked. I was just as shocked, but it seemed that all of the others were in complete agreement.

"What?" I was finally able to get out.

"You are an aberration that is unacceptable. Especially since the creature that is around your neck is extinct and has been for over a thousand years."

"I am the last." Said a voice that I instantly knew as Shift's. "I was placed in a cave by my last companion, a universal."

"And he did so for good cause, because a piece of Kullervo was implanted in you, changing your nature!"

"Oh, how true that is!" Shift stated, still cheerful. "Unfortunately I was unable to take over and Shift's personality has remained!"

"Kullervo! You shall not survive this time! You were killed by the universal and she will be able to stop you now!"

"Isss that true? It seemsss that she has kept secrets from you, for I am not dead. I am merely fused with universal. She took over my main form, ssso I was able to use it to hide from her Daniel's companionship to Shift and cloud her mind when she tried to find out what creature it was she held in her hands! I used her to push Daniel, a Potential Universal away from the society!"

"A Potential Universal?" questioned the woman with the unicorn.

"Yes, a host that holds the blood and is a companion to an extinct species! All I need to do is kill this form while I am inside him and he will be a Universal in full! The human race will crumble before us!"

Kullervo/Shift leapt from my neck and grew, taking in dirt to come to full size. He whipped the other people and creatures away and tightened around me. The desert in my mind flooded with water, and before me was a deep blue ocean.

**BWA HA HA HA HA! How is this? Please tell me! I want to know!**

**The wellspring just flooded through me and I have to say that this is the greatest that could have possibly came from it!**

**If you're wondering, the form you have seen so far is the Sand Sprite, but the actual thing is just in the Elemental group. Connie has been clouded by Kullervo and this has taken a sinister turn, how will it end?**


	9. Chapter 9

Ch.9 Tides of Doubt

I was standing on the surface of the water, yet I wasn't. I could see to the horizon in every direction, yet my view was blocked by the large stone scales. My footing was steady, yet it quaked.

The feelings and sights from the real world faded. The quaking ground was replaced by the steady solid waters that filled my mind. The sight of scales was replaced by the beautiful vista. Tearing winds replaced by the calm breath of wind that seemed to welcome me.

"It is yours." spoke a deep voice. I spun on my heel and took in the form of a large blue eagle. "All this is yours and mine. Together we will be happy. Together we will be able to do anything."

"This is mine? This ocean is what I am?" Somehow it felt wrong, but the unease was covered as soon as it rose.

"Yes, it is. Soon you will be my companion for the rest of our lives."

I gazed at the surrounding blue waters, spotting tiny silver sparkles that rose and danced through the waves. It was mesmerizing, raising from the sands below and dancing through the air. I watched as a silver moon rose in the sky above and lit the are in a perfect melody between silver and blue, even though the blue cast a back drop to everything.

"What's all the silver?" I asked.

"It is you, your essence, your power and mine!" Glee danced through his voice and it filled my mind. Everything was beautiful here. The four out there had said that Kullervo was evil, but he had only shown me the kindness that they had refused me.

"I like it!"

"Would you like to fly?" Did I want to fly? Yes! I had dreamed of flying since I was small. Flying on the back of creatures or by myself depending on what I had felt like that day. All those memories came back.

I was happy, my mother holding me high in the air and my father playing with us. It was long before the trees had talked and I had faded into the background of Dad's work. We were a family and we were able to make each other happy.

Mom lifted me and made roaring sounds, which I laughed at. Dad swung a stick, playing the knight and trying to rescue me. The day was warm and all of us were out of breath when we had finished. Lemonade was cool in the glasses and running down our throats. The sun set was wonderful, hot air balloons floating into the blazing circle. Clouds were lit from underneath, purples and pinks mixed freely with the oranges and reds.

I had been five.

Kullervo lifted me and I was on his back in the air. Silver streamers danced around us and I felt him fall out beneath me. I didn't worry though, as I knew no harm would come.

A blue whirlwind lifted me and solidified underneath into another form that I was too happy to dwell on. My happiness was shared by my companion and I let the air ruffle my hair as I threw my hands back and laughed.

The whirlwind was around me again and I spun myself as I landed on the back of another creature. We soared high and I touched the moon, streamers clinging to my fingers and tracing through the sky behind us.

Me and Arron were prowling through the streets during one of the frequent blackouts, trading stories about the past and future. What would happen when we became rich, what we would do if we suddenly got super powers. Would we be heroes or villains?

Arron argued that we could be villains like the Joker, pranksters that did it for fun. I had agreed wholeheartedly. Why be troubled with responsibilities and earthly needs when we could just have fun? We agreed though, that we wouldn't hurt others in our fun, cuz that would ruin it.

We ran through the streets and left our troubles behind. We camped in the woods on the edge of the city for the weekend, searching for treasures that others would call junk. That was the day we had found a wedding ring. We had gotten a hundred dollar award for returning it.

I had been twelve.

Kullervo soared higher and our joy went with it. We were reveling in the area around us and I could feel the wind blowing past fast as we went into a dive. He vanished from beneath me but reapeared again as a smiling seal who helped me dive into the blue ocean. I could breath the liquid and reveled in that feeling that nothing could ruin this day.

We dove down and up, my companion shifting and swimming happily with me. I shouted out in joy again and looked forward into the blue.

The beach was rocky, but I had had fun all day. Mom was running with me, Dad having gone back home to make dinner for when we got back. Mom picked up a crap and showed me its little claw legs, avoiding the pincers.

Returning it to the sand below we watched as the waves cast the sun across our collection of shells. I ran my hand over their smooth surfaces and watched as they glinted all the colors of the rainbow. One in particular caught my eye and I chose it as my favorite.

I had been seven.

We danced through the waveless sea and shot out of it again, flying straight up and spiraling around as we took in our surroundings. In the distance I could see what looked like a silver castle floating on the water. Sand filled it's floor and I pointed to it.

My companion and I turned to the castle and we picked up speed.

I could see a gate and drawbridge on the front. Towers were at the four corners and I laughed as I could see that they were piled with the treasures from my memories, copied over and over again.

Arron ran up the pile of trash and yelled loudly, scaring most of the birds off, though one stayed on a pile of trash nearby and watched our game. As we entered the top nest we were astounded.

There were more piles, but instead of trash there was treasure. Real treasure! We had run into it and started digging, holding up the priceless bits that we could only imagine the origin of. Arron had started collecting rings, which we would redistribute later, but I had something I was looking for specifically.

There, not three feet away, was a small pile of what I had been hoping for. Chains! They were made of real silver and gold. They littered the area and I gathered handfuls, knowing that we wold be able to use these as much as the rings for our games.

A caw in the distance warned us of the returning magpies and we ran for it, our treasure jangling in the backpacks we had been wearing home from school.

I had been sixteen. It was a month before we moved.

Landing in the castle took my breath away and I gazed at the piles of treasures. I could imagine searching through them for hours more and I knew there would be plenty of time.

After the sunset – when the clouds were still illuminated – I watched as silver sparks danced across the sky. Mom and Dad called it a meteor shower and I wished that we would always be this happy.

The ring me and Arron found sat in the palm of my hand, a silver glint reflecting from the diamond. I knew immediately that someone was looking for it, so we started looking for them.

The shell was shined like a mirror and reflected the silver moon high above us on the beach as we left, headed home for a dinner that had most likely been ready for hours.

The chains and rings glinted in the light in Arron's room. We had estimated our little horde to be worth a fortune but had vowed to never part with it. We each wore the rings that fit and fashioned the chains into bracelets and backpack attachments with the too big and too small rings hanging from them. I looked down and realized that most of the rings and chains I had were gold. One on my right ring finger gleamed silver though.

The castle sand shifted under my gaze and I could see large marble sized quartz spheres gleaming in the light. Colors shouted out from the spheres but I only had eyes for the silver.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Julia Golding owns all her ideas and characters. I own Daniel and Sand Sprites as well as this plot.**

Ch.10 The End

I watched as the silver on the quartz swirled, forming into patterns and filling me with sadness and thought. I turned and watched as Kullervo turned back to the eagle, triumphant in his supposed total domination of my thought. He had unwittingly brought his own end by bringing me to the castle that resisted his flood.

"What about Shift?"

"Don't worry, when he is gone we will be one!" Kullervo crowed, mistaking my concern to be for our union.

I walked forward and wrapped my hands around the eagle formed shifter and let a few tears slide out. He had shown kindness to me when no one else had. But I couldn't let him kill Shift. I couldn't let him kill Shift then use me to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. I was going to have to stop him and save the Shift I had never met.

Tightening my grip, I wrapped the silver tendrils that had clung to me from the moon like thing tight around him, binding him while I could think.

"What is the meaning of this!" Kullervo shouted, anger lashing at me and knocking me away. I backed away and started searching the sand for the real quartz sphere, all the fakes having disapeared.

Kullervo screamed as I searched and I cringed away. There! I dashed forward and grabbed the small sphere that was glinting in the light. I held it to my chest and could feel my mind like the stretch of desert that it had been before.

A tearing sound brought my attention back to Kullervo, who had just freed himself from the bonds I had imprisoned him in. Malice filled his eyes as he dissolved into the blue whirlwind. I dashed away and dodged as he gusted past as different mythological creatures. One time a hydra, the next a pegasus, but I kept away. I knew that if he got hold of me he would not let go.

My left leg was clipped by the fire of a dragon and I howled in pain. I stumbled forward and felt as if I could no longer move. Turning, I watched Kullervo stalk forward.

"Another fool!" he cried out harshly. "You have betrayed me and now you shall be consumed by my power! But first, the sandling."

I cradled Shift against me and sealed my hands to keep Kullervo away, but it mattered not.

In a flash he shifted to something that I could not see and fired a spike at me. It pierced one hand, the sphere, than my chest. I coughed in surprise, feeling blood on my lips. The spike was slid and Kullervo returned to his eagle form.

"There, now you are too injured to resist, the last obstacle is gone and you are bound until I can break this pitiful castle to shreds!"

More blood trickled down my chin as I felt the desert in my mind fading, replaced by a dark blue ocean. Shivers ran down my spine and I screamed with fury. Suddenly the spike was gone and surrounding me were weapons and covering me was armor. I instinctively grabbed a bow and arrow and fired bolt after bolt at the eagle.

Each impact left visible holes that dripped blue. I ran out of arrows and grabbed a mace, slamming it into Kullervo's head before turning to grab a set of short swords. I slashed angrily at the thing in front of me.

Weapons passed through my hands and dropped away as I picked up the next. One moment there were darts, the next I had a maul.

Then I had a great axe that seemed to slice through air when I aimed at Kullervo. Blinking, I realized that it _had _passed through air. There was no blue eagle there, only a fading splotch where he had been. Ilooked out of the gates and saw a great desert that stretched for as far as I could see. It was fading.

I looked to my hand and saw the pierced orb that would make Shift's eyes. A perfect hole was in the center and I gasped as I could feel the desert fading past my reach. I refused and slammed my helmet into silver energy which I poured into the gem. It still wasn't enough.

I took all the armor I was wearing and poured the silver energy into the orb, but it still wasn't enough.

Weapons faded around me as I turned them and stopped the fading desert. I could see it clearly, but it was still far off. I slammed the walls around me with a mental blast that would have taken out a continent and poured the energy in.

I desperately looked around and saw that I had missed only one weapon. It was a large sword and I grabbed it as quickly as I could. As soon as I did it was as if I could feel the desert around me, then I faded back to the real world.

_You are a true companion to the sand sprites. _ The true Shift spoke to me.

Silver mist was surrounding my prone form. Shift was draped over me, easily ten feet long with a six foot wingspan. Connie was kneeling in front of us and the unicorn was behind her, silver streamers dripping from the horn.

I felt relaxed and smiled at those around me. Trees were uprooted and tossed everywhere, but I didn't care.

I ran a hand over my chest and it came away a mix of blue and red. Blue left from the spike and red from my blood. I looked at the gaping wound n my chest and coughed as blood trickled into my lungs and down my face.

I ran a hand over Shift and was happy to see the desert blossom in my mind's eye. Everything would be alright for Shift. I was sure.

Blackness threatened to take over me and I reached a hand forward before falling.

…

…

…

A week later in the hospital I was sitting with the necklace form of Shift. He was happy go lucky and I felt the same. We had fought against the greatest evil in the mythical world and beaten it. I had already been congratulated by all of the Trustees and had been visited by many of the local Society members.

I had found out that a lot of what Kullervo had told me had been lies. Although I was able to go unnoticed easier than others, I could by no means 'fade away'. I had a good resistance to heat, but none to cold. And the biggest was that I was only a companion to sand sprites, which were not a combination of things as Kullervo had told me.

I was happy and thumbed the small lapel badge that held the image of a rock. I was an elemental and I was the companion of the last sand sprite. I would do everything in my power to keep him safe and help to my fullest to create more.

**The End.**

**If you are confused by the last comment, I am saying that sand sprites can be created, if there is at least one still alive.**


	11. Epilogue

**Sorry, everyone!**

**The only ideas I had for the sequel were disjointed and had no filler, only climactic stuff that would amount to less than a chapter.**

**So, to make it up to you I have this long Epilogue, enjoy!**

Epilogue.

The sand stretched as far as the eye could see. A dark blue sky held the faintest of silver moons that bathed the area in a weak light, fighting the dark. It was failing.

Wind swirled from every direction and battered into the only travelers in sight. To the normal person there was only one being, to the skilled eye there were two. Neither of these assumptions were right. There were three beings in all in the desert that stretched in every direction.

The first was a man. He was tall and strong. His brown hair was flecked with gray. He held himself up and had a determined look on his face that mingled with pain. A sand colored cloak wrapped around his body, tattered from years of heavy use. His eyes shone from a heavily tanned face, one a brown so dark it was almost black, the other an extremely light gray. Both held the intelligent gleam of someone who knows far more than he says. And both had small streaks of blue.

"Are we almost there, Shift?" came the deep voice, talking to his companion.

A large snake like creature rose from the sand and wrapped itself around the man. It was long and large, wings sprouting from its back. It absentmindedly flicked its tongue across a lapel badge that displayed a rock or gem, its multicolored eyes with their silver pupil flicking across the land around them.

"Yes, Daniel, we are close! Soon we will have completed the journey! Can we rest when it is finished?" A hint of worry crept in with the question and led any who heard to believe that the question meant more than it seemed.

"Of course, my friend. When we have accomplished the task at hand we will be able to rest." Again hidden meaning flooded the words, but none listening would be able to tell what was meant.

The last in the group of material beings was a small figure made entirely of air. It dashed around the other two and kept watch on them, splitting small pieces of itself off that flew straight north, away from the scorching deserts of Africa and to a small yet elegant building in the heart of London.

Said building was covered in small carvings of mythological creatures and was fronted by two carvings in the front that took the forms of dragons. Once inside, this small bit of air would rush past doors and halls and end up in a room with a black haired woman who had one brown eye and one green, informing her of the pair's exploits.

Back in the desert, the duo finally came to their destination. To others it would appear the same as the rest of the desert, but a skilled eye may have picked out a shard of multi colored quartz sticking out of the ground, a trace of silver on it.

The man knelt and said a prayer before lifting the shard and sliding it into the last empty spot on a sphere of quartz that he withdrew from his pocket.

Daniel handed the completed and whole orb to Shift while he held out his arms, concentrating deeply. In his left hand formed a silvery hilt that formed into a long blade. It was solid and gleamed in the trace of moonlight. A blue gem sat at the base of the hilt.

In his right hand formed a magnificent bow. It looked carved from moonlight itself and filled the area with the light of hope. The two tips curved back perfectly and were held by a string. The string itself was blue.

On Daniel's back formed a quiver that matched the bow. It was filled with shining silver arrows that all looked the same as a unicorn's healing powers. A strap went across his chest and held the quiver in place. A blue band was formed across the middle.

Opening his mismatched eyes, Daniel gazed at the tools that were left after that night twenty years ago. Now he would put to rest his determination that had formed, then he would put to rest the demon that had clung inside him.

Raising the bow, he notched the sword,using it in a peculiar combination. The sword drew energy from Shift, reminiscent of the desert that surrounded them. The heat and wind blew around the clearing and swirled into a small, wide funneled tornado. Grit blew pat the two, but they didn't notice.

Daniel pulled back on the makeshift arrow and aimed carefully, knowing he only had one chance at this. Releasing, both watched as the sword flew true and vanished into the orb of quartz. A musical note so pure that it brought tears to Daniel's eyes rang out from the small orb.

Cradling it in his hands, he could feel a desert forming. As yet it was a desolate place, filled with trash and so small that it could be called a sandbox. He would fix that.

Pulling the string on the bow back, he notched the first of the arrows, firing it and all of the successive ones into the small orb.

The moon slowly sank and in the far east the rising sun cast an orange glow in the sky. Slowly the orb raised in the sky and lit the land below. When it was half visible an audible gasp could be heard from the clearing.

Daniel stood in the middle, cradling the rekindled life in his hands. As yet it was only a whispering presence. Shift wrapped tightly around his companion in a congratulatory hug. The sunlight poured over the ridge behind them and they were bathed in sunlight.

In the distance the wind whistled and Daniel smiled. He had completed the task that he had striven for for years. Tears poured down his face and he bit into his bottom lip so hard that it bled. Already he could feel the life in his hands waking.

Setting the orb on the sand, he watched as the particles gathered around the stone. It split in half and formed eyes with silver pupils, then formed a lithe snake like body. It grew the five feet and sprouted small wings as it reared up, letting out a whispery sounding call.

Shift flowed down and surrounded the both of them, reveling in the presence of another sand sprite after so long.

Daniel reached up and wiped the blood from his chin, gasping when he saw it was blue.

"No!" he called, the moment shattering around him. Panic flowed and the tears turned from happiness to horror. Looking up, Shift could see that instead of his companion having mismatched eyes, they were a pure deep blue.

"We must hurry and get back to the universal!" Shift called, "She will be able to stop the progress!"

"It's too late!" Panic ripped through the two as the blue spread over the whites and then started to cover the skin around them. Shivers went down Daniel's spine and he fell to the sand below him, crying out in pain.

"It can't end like this!" Shift yelled out, sand tears pouring from his gem-like eyes. "We were so close!"

"Shift!" Daniel yelled, his voice cracking and a deeper note piercing it, "You have to leave, now! We can't let Kullervo get rid of you and take me as a host!"

"I will stay!" Shift said, mirth and determination mixed in his voice. "But I have already sent the little one away."

It was true. The small, recently reformed sandling had vanished. Blue had now covered the skin on Daniel's head and his hair was turning the same color, but darker. He coughed and red blood came out.

"I'm still me." said Daniel's surprised voice. "On the deep inside at least. Shift! Fly as fast as you can! Get Connie from London and bring her, I'll hold for the two hours it will take you."

"But-"

"NOW!" Daniel boomed, his voice cutting any protest.

Shift leapt into the air and flapped his wings, the air snapping around him as he immediately accelerated to past the speed of sound.

…

Two hours later a tired Shift and Connie landed in the clearing. A form sat in front of them, covered by the sand colored cloak that Daniel had worn for years.

"Daniel!" Shift called, excited. "Did you beat him back?"

A mirthless chuckle filled the surroundings and the figure stood, tossing the cloak aside. It was humanesque, yet obviously not the Daniel that had been there before. Blue hair was pulled into a tight band at the back of it's head, giving a clear view of the pale blue skin and dark blue eyes.

"Oh, yes, I beat him back." said Kullervo. "And my dear universal! You have returned with the one piece of the puzzle that remained!" He opened a hand and out trickled a stream of quartz dust. It mingled with the sand and a breeze mixed the two together.

"No!" screamed Connie, "How could you possibly break out? Daniel imprisoned you!"

"Yes, he imprisoned me, but he did so inside of himself. I took the challenge, my little universal, and took the human form. And, now, I no longer need you." Faster then the speed of light a beam shot out and caught Shift through the eye.

"Oh-" His form collapsed around the shattered gem as Kullervo laughed.

"Now, I shall bring my powers out!" he cried. Winds swirled around the duo and the earth began to quake. Sand poured into deep fissures, replaced by bubbling lava that spewed skyward. Another blue crackle of light shot through Connie's chest and left her, dead on the sand below.

Wind swirled as Kullervo lifted himself from the ground, his lower body a swirl of blue and sand.

"No!" came Daniel's voice, struggling from the black depths Kullervo had shoved him to. "You can't win!"

"Quiet, my companion. I already have!"

**Kullervo wins.**


	12. Expansion Chapter 1

**A/N: Sequel to New Universe, resubmitting it slowly to the end of the first.**

**If you liked the ending of the first, don't read this little ditty. It's just to give an alternate ending to those who don't like Kullervo winning and Connie dying.**

Ch.1 Cold and Alone

The dark coursed around me, leaving nowhere to turn. Tears slid down my face, but I didn't know why. I just wanted to go home and be safe, out of the swirling darkness that held me here in this cage. Every once in a while a flicker of silver lit the inside of my cage, but the blue snuffed it out.

My breath fogged before me and I watched as it changed. I turned it to small snowflakes, then a large one. I watched as I willed it into different shapes – yet none of them were familiar – before the mist faded. Then another breath out and I started again.

Sounds flitted through my prison at infrequent intervals. A gust of wind sailing past my ear, humming of some old marching song, crickets in a field. I felt so alone, unable to see what was making the noises. Perhaps my captor wanted me to cry out in pain?

I tried to call out but couldn't open my mouth. I reached up and felt a cool band around it. My captor didn't want me to cry out...

I watched another burst of breath and tried to form it into something recognizable, but nothing came to mind. Cold prevailed over me and I watched my breath.

In...

Out...

In...

Out...

In...

Out...

In...

Out...

Out...

In...

Wait! There had been another breath besides my own! I held my breath and watched as another's filled the area. Large flakes of snow formed, then turned yellow. It was something familiar, something that I knew. The yellow grains slid against one another and whispered in a soft voice.

I stared at the small grains, pushing myself to remember what they were. They slid and slipped back and forth, creating that voice-like sound. It was getting louder, drowning out the sounds of the outside that I could not see.

The word was on the tip of my tongue... And then it was. The granules shifted into my mouth as the band disappeared.

Shift!

How could I forget him? I had forgotten the best friend I had ever had! Sand – that's what it was called! - was still in my mouth and it gritted against my tongue, the taste earthy and somewhat sweet.

I scraped the sand out and watched as another breath came to being, combining with my own. A snout had emerged from the blue. It was blue itself, yet I knew it was not the same. Slowly it emerged into the cage, small and dripping wet.

It was a snake that was about three feet long, jewels for eyes, small wings folded across its back. It seemed unable to see with the blue gems, so I reached out to touch it.

Gasping, it felt as if my mind was thrown into a desert. The heat beat down on me and I breathed in the dry air. It was the familiar place that I had come to know with Shift. Where was Shift? I wondered about it.

I had met him only a month ago, after the day I had vanquished Kullervo, and then I had been pushed into this prison.

_He truly took you then?_ A voice entered my head. It was Shift's – I knew – yet I did not see him anywhere. All that was near my was the small, blue...

"Shift?" I whispered, my own voice course and strange to my ears. Somehow sounding unused for years. I cleared my throat and tried again, my throat rasping.

"What has happened?"

_You are here, and Kullervo has control. He must have taken you bit by bit, as we journeyed together. It has been twenty years since we met._

**Just a short first chapter to the sequel. What do you think?**


	13. Expansion Chapter 2

Ch.2 Bit and Bridle

The cage fell quickly to me and Shift, revealing a city.

The city was lit by what seemed to be noon day light. Buildings rose to either side and above them towered power lines and radio towers. I watched people walk to and from the buildings, cars and along the sidewalks in amazement. Glass windows in store fronts revealed products as diverse as shoes to bagpipes.

Cars zoomed past on the roads and splashed water on the walkers, who cursed and spewed threats at the already vanished vehicles. They then continued on in their sopping clothes, umbrellas still held up to repel the rain.

The rain itself was warm and I held my face straight up into it, letting the drops hit my eyelids and wash away all my thoughts. It seemed so real, except for one thing.

Everything was blue.

I walked the streets and all I saw was blue. People were blue. Cars were blue. Cement was blue. It was silent, like the cage had been, with far off snatches of sound. First I heard a scream, then the sound of metal colliding with metal. The sound was deep and echoed across the city, then faded to nothing.

"What is happening Shift? I thought that when we got out of the cage, I would be free."

_Yes, when you are out you will be free! But we are still inside. We need to find the way out!_

I searched around me for anything that looked like a way out, but all I saw was the city. I looked up and saw a dark blue sky with tiny silver stars that cast the city into a noontime light. It seemed as though the people around me didn't see me, so – to test it – I stepped in front of a man.

He past straight through me, his form dissolving where it touched me and reforming on the other side. It left me feeling sick and I retched into the street gutter. Even my vomit was blue.

I looked at my hands and saw that my veins were all popped out, showing dark blue between the normal colored skin segments. I twisted and looked into a blue tinted glass, to see that I was affected by it all across my body, but the thing that caught my attention the most was my eyes.

Normally they were two separate colors, one a brown so dark that it looked black, the other a gray so light. I stared back at the now blue irises and marveled at how the color went from light blue in the center and rippled into a darker color near the edge. I ran a finger across the bottom of my right eye and leaned in closer, taking in my almost normal appearance.

I smiled at my reflection and watched as I walked away, not taking my eyes off of it until a car dematerialized around me and I fell to the pavement, gasping.

When I looked up again, the city was different. It seemed older somehow. There were no power lines or radio towers. There were far less blue people and far less cars. I looked around at the two and three story buildings, a familiar feeling overtaking me as I watched the panorama change in the distance to woods and a moor. I listened, and this time the distant sounds were closer. I heard the shifting waves of an ocean and turned, marveling at the broad expanse of blue water.

I then realized I was in Hescombe.

I looked at the street and saw that I was indeed on Shaker Row, and standing in front of number three. I opened the door and walked inside. Up in my room, it was exactly how I had left it. My figurines sat on their shelf, and – though blue – still gave me the happy memories of my mom giving them to me before disappearing.

I left those behind and walked down the hall to Father's office, opening the door and looking at the mess of papers and computer hardware that littered the floor. I had only been in there once, retrieving a flash drive for him while he made dinner, but it looked exactly the same.

I glanced back to the door, wondering if Father was here at this moment in time, and if he were blue like every thing else in this strange dream.

I didn't know when I had decided it was a dream, but I knew for sure now that it was. I mean, Kullervo had been defeated a month ago! I walked down the stairs and heard a laptop humming while smelling the cooking bacon. Since this was a dream, I would eat every single bit of it, vegetarian bacon or no!

Dad turned as I walked in and smiled. Is mouth moved but no sound came out. I nodded, guessing that he was asking if I had been taking good care of myself. It was the question he always asked.

I sat and had a plate of blue bacon and eggs placed in front of me. I laughed, remembering that Mom always used to read me 'Green Eggs and Ham' when I was a child. Now I got the first hand experience of finding out if the color really changed the taste.

After polishing off the full plate I could say that – if anything – they tasted better! I waved a goodbye to Dad and walked out the door, wandering the streets of Hescombe. I silently wondered at the detail my dream had, as I now walked past the old tea shop and saw Lavinia sitting in it and sipping tea with Col.

I wondered if it was one of those dreams where you could do anything and decided to test it at the most viable place I could think of.

Mallin Woods.

I looked at the swaying blue trees and swyed my head with them.

"Blue Spruce!" I shouted out, startling some silent birds as I laughed.

In the distance I could again hear the clang of metal and found it somewhat sooting, though I had no idea where the sound was coming from.

I halted my thoughts and brought to the fore front my task at hand. First test. Did I have super strength?

I walked over to a boulder that was just of the path and tried my hardest to lift it. Exhausting this choice I tried to push it, but failed again. I guess that answered the question of super strength.

"Next! Lets see... Mind reading!" I said to myself, finding comfort in the noise.

I snuck up behind a bird and concentrated on it, trying to get a sense of something from it. Maybe the tiniest bit of emotion, or a picture, but it failed. I moved on and found a dog that seemed to be sleeping. Maybe I could listen in on its dreams?

I tried, giving myself a headache in the process and finally gave up, rubbing my temples. Nope. Couldn't read thoughts!

"Flying!" I shouted, waking the dog and causing it to run off in the other direction. I remembered flying with Shift as one of my lessons and I glanced around, wondering how I should do this. There was a clearing that was filled with blue flowers and I stood at the center. I lifted my arms and tried to will myself off the ground.

Failing, I then tried jumping, then jumping while flapping my arms. Maybe I needed a start with momentum? I ran around the clearing and started jumping and flapping, sweat pouring down my face and grunts escaping my throat.

I sat hard and tried to think of the problem logically. Birds were mostly able to start flapping and lift themselves, due to their hollow bones and such. Dragons could do the same, but whenever they could, they started at a high spot and used the momentum of a fall to sweep themselves into flight.

I laughed in joy at the thought and started talking the plans over with myself. There were plenty of trees around. All I needed to do was climb as high as I could and jump! I started on a tree that had many low branches, but then climbed between it to another when I saw that the upper branches were sparse on my first choice.

I looked down after awhile and marveled that I had climbed so high. The I took position and jumped.

For a second I hovered in the air and I thought I had succeeded, then I fell. Branches whipped by, a couple causing scratches as They hit my face. I felt my stomach drop and my mind went blank as I watched the ground quickly approaching.

Pain exploded in my body and bounced as I hit the ground. I moaned out and cradled the back of my head, lifting one hand away and staring at the blue blood that seeped from the cut. I was breathing hard as I tested the rest of my limbs, finding that nothing was broken.

At least I knew one thing. This wasn't a dream.


	14. Expansion Chapter 3

Ch.3 Not So Little Blue Men

As I lay in the blue forest, listening to the sounds of metal clanging in the distance, I finally noticed that Shift was no longer with me. Wherever it was that I was trapped, I had to get out. Unfortunately, I had no idea of how to do that. Shift was what had helped me from the first cage.

Slowly standing, I walked from the forest and onto the moor. It had been awhile since I had been on the moor, as my mentor had held all lessons on the beach. I walked to the giant windmills, which twirled with the warm breeze from the blue ocean.

In the distance I could see small fish, like silver glimmers, jumping from the water and splashing back in. I walked past the old tin mine entrance and listened as the wind moaned through its twists and turns. Then I eventually got to the road that led from Hescombe to the Masterson's.

I turned in the direction of Hescombe, favoring the beaches and their warmth to the fogged farm.

The sad was as warm as I had wished, and I buried my legs in the sand as much as possible, trying to feel closer to the vanished Shift. I watched as the angle of light sank and made the silver stars dance on the horizon in a mock sunset.

Surely I would be able to get out. Surely I would find that this was just a trick and my mentor would be waiting for me to arrive with Shift wrapped protectively around me. I sat in the blue sand, then jumped as I felt something slide past me.

I watched the tentacle left out of the sand and try to grasp for me before disintegrating into the fine particles. Again a tentacle formed, this time latching onto my leg and drawing me down into a sphere of blue.

Coldness took over and I felt tired, my breath slowing as the tentacle wrapped itself around me as walls of blue rose around and above, smoothing into the spherical prison.

My breath fogged in front of me and I watched as it formed into indistinguishable. I rubbed my hand back and forth across the tentacle that seemed to form itself into an Ouroboros. It gripped tightly around my waist and I felt safer, in the grasp of something that wanted the best for me. It purred and I listened as distant city noises echoed from far beyond the prison.

I counted my breaths and relaxed as the Ouroboros grew slightly and wrapped me in a warm embrace. I breathed out again and watched as they formed int snow flakes. My half lidded eyes watched as again and again the breaths poured into the area around me, another puff joining in every once in a while from the snake wrapped around me.

About to close my eyes, I caught the sight of something that wasn't snow. It was similar, but it didn't melt. In fact, the more we breathed, the more ended up in the small prison.

"What's happening?" I whispered.

_I have been sent to keep you here._ Replied an unfamiliar voice.

"Why are we here, though, in this cage?" I said, the questions leading me away from the near sleep.

_For the Master wishes us too. I, too, was once free. I feel a strong bond to you._ Kullervo! I thought angrily of all those shapes he had. Each and every one must have been a creature that he took over. He possessed and stole each one of their forms, locking them away.

"What if we worked together?" I asked, "Surely with all of our forces we could beat the Master?"

_It is true. Every one of us that oppose Master would rob him the ability to steal our forms. But there are those that will never oppose Master._

"Well then," I stated confidently. "We will have to persuade all those we can to join us and overcome the rest!"

_It is true. You are the most powerful here._

"Oh, ya, the whole 'potential universal' thing."

_But you are a universal here. All those that will listen to no other will listen to you!_

I could hear hope and joy building in the voice. Standing, I pushed confidently against the walls and watched as they collapsed under my touch, leaving me on the well lit beach.

"Where to next?" I asked the Ouroboros.

_Go to where the Master is strongest here, the sight of the battle!_

The joy made me think of Shift, and I wondered if he was still out there, past the cage I was now trapped in. It made me wonder how I had gotten here in the first place and if, after I defeated Kullervo, I would be able to leave and find him.

The stars twinkled in the sky as I marched to the road to the Masterson's. I felt warmth seeping from the light and earth itself as other mythological creatures began to follow. At first I could only feel the Ouroboros, but soon I felt the pressure of minds of others.

There was a rock dwarf, following behind a little bit and trying to hide its presence from me. Overhead a few flyers took to the sky. There was a pegasus, a thunder bird, and a siren. From the direction of the sea came a human figure with wide, soulful eyes that I recognized as a selkie.

All five came closer and were right behind me when the farm came into view.

It was as I had remembered the event that day, and I watched as Shift's form, possessed by Kullervo, grew and knocked the trustees back. I watched as the large blue sand sprite tightened around a blue copy of myself.

Charging forward, I let out a battle cry, the creatures behind me doing likewise and charging with me. The sand snake looked up and separated from the blue copy of me. I watched as it called to the sky and gathered its own forces.

A fire imp sprang to life, bigger than it should be, and danced across the ground, gleefulin its ability to go as fast as it could towards us with its intent to burn. A large dragon, who had acted as a Trustee in the replay lunged forward, a unicorn by its side. I watched as the four charged forward and I instinctively reached to my back and pulled out a bow, knocking arrows and launching them at the charging garrison.

The imp fell under my assault, but the other creatures ran forward and did battle with the ones behind me. Rushing forward I helped the blue version of myself up. It grinned at me, then started to fade, merging with me.

Memories poured in and I closed my eyes.

After training with my mentor for months, learning the ins and outs of sand sprites as well as training with Connie on my leftover universal abilities, I had been called, along with everyone else, to battle the remainder of Kullervo's forces. We fought long and hard, largely hindered by the weather giants. In the end me and Connie had waged battle on Hoo, the stand in leader. We had eventually beat him back, but at great loss to us as the golden dragon had been killed I the fight. We had won the battle, but not the war.

I collapsed to my knees and opened my eyes. Looking down at my hands, tear filled my eyes. The golden dragon had been struck down by lightning, her blood raining down upon our small group. Connie had collapsed in grief and agony and I had had to fight through the enemy lines to score the blow on Hoo before they called the retreat.

When my eyes cleared, I saw that my skin had returned to its normal tone, no longer filled with the blue veins that it had had before. I looked around and saw a battle field. There were mythical creatures everywhere, humans fighting in the mix, but all was silent.

All of my followers in the charge of the last part of the cage were gone, and I felt let down with out them.

_We are not gone!_ A collection of voices echoed in my head. _We are merely with you. You can use our powers in the next battle!_

I looked down again and was startled to see that they were right. A rock plate covered my chest. Around my waist was a silver belt that resembled a snake eating itself. Pants that were deep brown and felt of fur stretched down to metal boots.

Stretching, I could see a mix of colors on my back that turned out to be wings. They changed from pure white at the top, gray in the middle, and storm black at the base, showing the merge of the three flyers that had accompanied me so far.

I then turned my expression to stone and set my eyes on the horizon. Now that the Master knew I was breaking free, this would be no walk in the park.


	15. Expansion Chapter 4

Ch.4 Something not quite right.

Daniel pushed forward, watching as creatures and people fought. In the distance the Storm Giants rose up like a thunderhead on the horizon. Men and creatures alike fell around him, in silent blue imitations of the real event. I felt a tugging on me and smiled. It felt familiar, almost like when I was with Shift.

Then a shudder wracked my body and everything... fell apart for a moment. I frowned and looked around. More memories flooded my mind. Finding shards in a desert, battles that were much harsher then this one. "NO!" I yelled loudly. Something wasn't right here. It all felt... fake.

Then, Connie and Shift flashed into my memory. 'Did you push him back!' she yelled. My eyes went fuzzy but the images were clear. A slight mist coming from my hand, then light flashing and ruining them both, descending into darkness.

But, Connie was old there. In fact, twenty years older to be precise. There was something else wrong as well. Her eyes, distinctly different, were switched. It was like looking into a mirror. Daniel pushed at himself, but all the creatures with him were still there. It was just the battle and memories that were fading.

"They aren't real!" he shouted, pushing out his chest. "The memories are all fake, Kullervo!"

"Oh, are they now?" came a hissing voice. Daniel turned and watched the blue puddle lift and reach into a bipedal form. "Still, you have to admit they were masterfully done. In fact, I had to take your form to get out of that little cage that you tried to catch me in. It has... slackened my hatred, I admit, but I am still strong enough to escape and take you down."

Daniel crouched, hands sideways in front of him. The creatures around him hugged tight, letting him feel their presence. "I won't lose to you here Kullervo. Not when I have the ability to take your strength from you!"

"Oh ho! You truly think that so few creatures can stand up to me?" he asked, voice smooth, lulling. Daniel however saw through it. He held his arm out to the right then flicked his hand forward. A dagger stabbed directly into Kullervo. He looked horrified for a second then smiled, dissolving into the blue.

Daniel sighed and looked around, the press of Kullervo's mind leaving him.

"He ran away." he said, sitting and staring at the silver stars above, hand sloshing the blue liquid.

"He's getting reinforcements." The Ouroboros hissed. All of the creatures faded from him then pressed in, back to their original forms. "Don't give up, please."

"I'm not giving up." Daniel replied, staring at the sky and zoning on the stars. "It just doesn't feel real. It feels like the fake memories. Solid at first and then loose afterwords. It's like Kullervo is faking it all and nothing here is actually blue. Just look at the stars. It's almost as if I could reach out and touch them, and everything would be bright again."

To demonstrate his point he lifted his hand to the sky.

"DANIEL! HOLD ON TIGHT!" Connie screamed to him. He blinked, surprised as a shiver wracked his body. "Oh, thank god you're awake!"

"Wh-where?" Daniel wheezed out, body spasming. The walls were like a hospital. Clean, bright, and white. There was no blue to be seen.

"Kullervo got into you, remember?" Connie asked, squeezing his hand tight. "I've been trying for hours to break in. He was twisting you up."

"He m-made me see you die. Shift too." Daniel wheezed again, chest feeling full of something.

"None of it's real there. All you have to do is touch him to see he's fake. I'm fighting him off. Just remember! It's all fake!"

Daniel nodded then the stars were above him again, with the creatures pressing into his back.

"It is all fake." he muttered, turning to them. "Kullervo is just trapping me here... but that also means I don't know if you are real."

"We are real!" the ouroboros insisted. The rest of the creatures nodded, giving off a silver glow. Daniel nodded and pulled them all close.

"All we have to do is stay still until Connie helps. She's a Universal. She can do anything." And he truly believed that.

It was almost a month before Daniel could breath right again, but he didn't mind. The memories that Kullervo had given him still replayed a sense of Deja vu, but they were now dreams. Life had resumed as normal in Hescombe, or as normal as it could get on Shaker Row.

Daniel was in a haze most of the time, chatting with the creatures he had stolen from Kullervo. Kullervo himself had fled away after Connie had fought him off. No doubt it would be easy for him to work with all the creatures he still had but now those six species at least were safe.

**A/N: Anti-climactic ending, I know. But not all things in life have epic twists and turns. Sometimes they fade away like a dream, driven by the light of day.**


End file.
